Umbrella or parasol exhibitor



UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

ABRAHAM Y. KN-ISELY AND JOHN P. KNISELY, OF STEELTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

UMBRELLA OR PARASOL EXHIBITOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,266, dated July 1, 1890. Application filed January 18, 1890- Serial No. 337,286. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ABRAHAM Y. KNISELY and JOHN P. KNIsELY, both of Steelton, in the county of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Umbrella or Parasol Exhibitor, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to improvements in devices for supporting and exhibiting umbrellas or like articles, the object being to provide a light, strong, portable device o'f the type indicated, which will afford means to prominently display a number of umbrellas, parasols, or canes, and permit free access to any one of the same.

It is also a feature of our invention to furnish a shapely compact umbrella exhibitor that may be quickly separated into parts which are so formed as to permit them to be closely packed for transportation, and said parts readily reassembled to produce a complete structure by an unskilled operator.

Another-important feature of our invention is the stepwise arrangement of the supports for umbrellas, &c., and the adjustability of the lower supports or socket-bars, (on which the umbrellas rest,) whereby one row of umbrellas of a certain average length may be set higher or lower relatively to another adjacent row, so that the handles of each row shall be properly displayed to view.

To these ends our invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described, and indicated in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the exhibitor in rectangular form. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the device, taken on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the exhibitor shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail plan view of one of the top rings of the exhibiting-stand, showing the manner of connecting said parts to the side bars of the main frame, so as to permit their ready detachment therefrom. Fig. 5 is a View of one end of the socket-supporting bar and an attached socket. Fig. (i is a side elevation of the socket-supporting bar shown in Fig.

5. Fig. 7 represents a plan view of the upper portion of a circular exhibitor embodying the essential features of construction shown in the prior-described figures. Fig. 8 is a sectional side elevation of the circular stand shown in Fig. '7, taken on the line 8 S in said figure. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the circular 6o exhibiting-stand, taken on line 9 9 in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is an enlarged View of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 8, looking in the direction of the arrow in said figure between the pointsmoc thereon; and Fig. 11 is an enlarged 6 View of a detail hereinafter described.

The device is made in a rectangular or circular form, as represented in the drawings, either style of construction embodying the important features of the invention.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the rectangular exhibitor shown consists of two similar side frame-sections A, having a skeleton form, comprising vertical spaced bars a, connected together at their lower ends by the arched foot-pieces b and at their graded upper ends by the forwardly and downwardly inclined top rails c, which rails may be given an undulating form, as shown by curved depressions of the rails produced between each pair ofupright bars. Between each adjacent pair of the upright bars a the horizontal braces b are secured, these being located at graded intervals of height, the lowest braces being in front and the highest at the rear, as shown in Fig. 2. From each horizontal brace 11 two parallel guide-strips c are downwardly extended and attached by their lower terminals to the foot pieces I), said guide-strips being designed to receive 'and' supportthe movable transverse 9o socket-supporting bars d, which are each composed of a longitudinally-slotted piece, as shown in the enlarged Fig. 5, that has a threaded set belt or screw d inserted in a tapped hole in each end, which bolts are made 5 to bear upon the outer faces of the guidestrips 0', and thus secure the socketbars d in position across the frame. As shown in Fig.

2, each socket-bar dis elevated above the one preceding, considered from front to rear, af- 10 fording graded tiers, the sockets or small conical depending cups 6, which are attachcd at spaced intervals upon the bars (Z, as represented, receiving the ferrule ends of umbrellas or like articles, that may thus be supported in rows that are raised one above the other from front to rear of the frame. To afford support for the upper ends and lateral braces for the structure, a series of composite cross-bars is provided. Said bars are each composed of two rods f, held in the same plane parallel to each other by a number of rings 9, said rings being located at spaced intervals between the rods, each ring being located directly above a socket 6 when the parts of the frame are assembled. The number of ring-holding bars is equal to that of the socket-holding bars d, the first-named being attached to the side sections A of the frame by forming depending hook ends f on the rods f. These hooks, that project downwardly at right angles to the rods, loosely engage the eyes f which are secured in pairs to adjacent Vertical bars a of the side sections A. As will be seen, the location of the eyes f 2 in pairs on the upright rods a grades them for height, so that the ring-holding bars f, when connected with the eyes, will be correspondingly graded. Preferably the distance between each ring-holding bar and socket-bar, which is located below it, is made the same. If, however, it is found necessary to alter the position of any of the socket-bars d, they may be quickly shifted by adjustment of their bolts d-that is to say, the said bars are adj usted higheror lower as required to properly display umbrellas or canes of differentlengths. Thus if the umbrellas placed in the lower and front set of supports (If have an average length of, say, twenty-eight inches, and the umbrellas placed in the adjacent rear supports d f have an average length of, say, twenty-six inches, then the longer handles of the front and lower set willbe in front of and obscure the view of the handles of the rear set. In such case we adjust the rear or upper socket-bar cl higher, so that 'the rear set of umbrellas are all raised correspondingly and their handles thus exposed to View above those of the lower set. Instead of the bolts d just mentioned, projecting studs may be formed on the ends of the bars d and nuts provided therefor, which will clamp the bars to the strips 0 equally as well. As an ornamental feature, there may be wire net-work of open mesh introduced between the rods a of the side sections A, and also around the rings g on the bars f.

When the parts of the frame are secured together and the umbrellas or like articles placed thereon, a considerable number of the same may be held and prominently displayed, owing to the manner of arranging them in rows, which are given step-like elevations one above the other rearwardly, and also by reason of the skeleton-frame support provided for them.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 of the drawings the construction of the frame is modified to permit the same to be given acircular form. It consists, essentially, of four sections A, which bars a, that are secured at spaced intervals on the horizontal foot-pieces b, their upper ends being similarly held at spaced distances apart by the downwardly and outwardly inclined top rails c. The four sections Aare held in place removably upon a central upright shaft B, free to rotate in a horizontal plane by attachment of the foot-pieces, and the top rails c to revoluble collars e', which are loosely mounted on the shaft near its top and lower ends. The sections Abeing secured in pairs oppositely are thus evenly spaced apart. A base-piece O, of proper form and weight to retain the structure upright, is centrally perforated to receive the shaft B. lar t" on said shaft having loose contact with the lower surface of the base-piece C, coact- ,ing with the collar 1', serves to connect the four sections A with the shaft B and maintain them free to revolve thereon. Between the paired upwardly-extendingbars a of each section A a series of rings m are slid, the larger rings beingintroduced Within the four outer slots produced between the guide-strips 0, each ring of diminished diameter being introduced within slots between the guidestrips that are correctly separated to receive them, the smallest ring of the set being located nearest to the shaft B. Upon the guidestrips 0 sliding blocks a are placed, these blocks being properly perforated to permit them to he slid on the strips previous to the secure attachment of their lower ends to the foot-pieces b. The blocks 01 are made adj ustable for height by provision of set-screws 0 or other suitable means. Each of the rings 0% is furnished with depending sockets e, arranged at equal intervals on their edges, preferably as shown, so as to project the cupshaped sockets beyond their peripheries,which will allow the free insertion of umbrella or parasol tip ends and furnish a base therefor. The blocks a are so located 011 the guidestrips 0 that the supported rings m will be elevated one above the other, the inner and smaller ring being the upper one of the coneshaped stand thus produced. It will be noticed that by the introduction of the rings m within the slots between the guide-strips c the lower-portion of the exhibiting-stand is bound together and stiffened. Upon the top rails c of the sections A double eyes p are secured at spaced intervals, their form being plainly represented in Fig. 10. These eyes, being proj ected on opposite sides of the top rails, are adapted to receive and retain the depending bent ends 19 of the ring-holding sections 0", which are each composed of curved parallel bars held spaced apart by the rings g, that are secured by their edges between the bars at equal distances apart, these spaces being the same as that which intervenes between the sockets on the bars below them, the rings and sockets being so arranged that they will conare each made up of the upwardly-extending A rigid colsecutively align With each other and afford supportsfora number of u mbrellas or like articles. Inspection of Fig. 7 exhibits the plan of arranging the ring-holding curved sections 0 upon the top of the four sections A, said sections forming a series of rings \vlien'assembled in position on the sections A. From the graduation in size of the rings produced by the junction of the ring-sections 'r and their location on the frame-sections A said sectional rings are disposed in tiers, giving the stand a coniform shape, thereby completing an umbrella-exhibitor of circular form,which is equivalent in construction to the rectangular supporting-frame first described.

Both forms of construction afford means for the prominent display of goods they are designed to hold and exhibit, and each is capable of being quickly separated into parts that may be packed together closely for trans portation, which is one of the essential features of the device in both styles of stand illustrated.

Having thus described our invention, We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. lhe combination,\vith vertical supports, of two or more sets of SOGkGlJ-l)ILlS(Z,Wl1lCl1 are vertically adjustable, and two or more ringbars f, each of which is arranged over a socketbar, one set of socket and ring bars being arranged behind and higher than the other set, or both stepwise, as shown and described.

2. The combi11ation,with a frame composed of vertical bars held spaced apart by footpieces, and top rails and guide-strips thereon adapted to receive soeketbars between them, of a series of socket-bars arranged in tiers, and a corresponding series of ring'holding bars supported in tiers above the socket-bars, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a skeleton frame composed of a series of upwardly-extending bars held spaced apart by foot-pieces and top rails, a series of guide-strips secured to the frame-sections producing slots between ad acent guide-strips, and a series of socket-holding bars, each provided with spaced sockets and adjustably supported in the slots of the guide-strips, of a series of ring-holding bars having a hook-and-eye connection with the skeleton frame, each of said bars having a number of rings equal to that of the sockets on the bar in vertical alignment therewith, substantially as set forth.

ABRAHAM Y. KNISELY. JOHN P. KNISELY. Witnesses:

CHARLES II. BEIDEL, D. AUGUSTUS Barnes. 

